Current Global Health Research

• The BactiVac Network is a global bacterial vaccinology network funded by the GCRF Networks in Vaccines Research and Development, which is co-funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).  BactiVac is a membership network that brings together members from academic, industry and policy sectors to accelerate the development of vaccines against bacterial infections relevant to low and middle-income countries (LMICs). The Network is led by Professors Cal MacLennan and Adam Cunningham and is a community of multidisciplinary experts who are working collaboratively to help overcome barriers limiting the generation of new vaccines and their use where needed. The opportunities available through BactiVac are catalyst funding for pump-priming projects and training, attendance at the Annual Network Meetings and access to LMIC travel bursaries.

• BactiVac website
• Adam Cunningham staff profile
• Professor Cal MacLennan staff profile

A collaborative project with the Universities of Warwick and Edinburgh, this is a £7m investment to build clinical research capacity in LMICs, in order to deliver improved care for surgical patients. The Unit works across sub-Saharan Africa, Asia (including India), and Central America. It is co-directed by Professor Dion Morton, a leading colorectal surgeon from the Birmingham’s Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences and Professor Peter Brocklehurst, Director of Research and Development at the Birmingham Clinical Trials Unit.

The Unit is establishing research hubs and satellite spokes/centres in the partner LMICs to undertake clinical research that will improve access to safe, timely and affordable surgical care, where currently, 9/10 people do not have access to the most basic surgical services. 

• University of Birmingham launches £7 million global surgical research fund 
• Professor Dion Morton staff profile 
• Professor Peter Brocklehurst staff profile

Breathe Well: Building Research across the World in Lung Disease 

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a long-term incapacitating respiratory condition, responsible for substantial ill health and is the 4th leading cause of death worldwide. The University of Birmingham has secured £2 million from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to build a research group aimed at improving healthcare for patients with lung diseases around the world. The NIHR Global Health Research Group on COPD in Primary Care (Breathe Well) is co-directed by Dr Rachel Jordan and Professor Peymané Adab at the University’s Institute of Applied Health Research, working with leading primary care experts in China, Brazil, Georgia and FYR Macedonia. They are undertaking several research projects over the next three years to find better ways of early detection and improving the management of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in primary care and the community in each of the four global regions, with transferable lessons to other settings and countries.  

• Breathe Well
• Professor Peymané Adab staff profile
• Dr Rachel Jordan staff profile

This is one of several projects that Dr David Lissauer and Professor Arri Coomarasamy work on, aiming to reduce maternal mortality in LMICs.  Sepsis causes 11% maternal deaths, and causes morbidity many other women during childbirth.  A multi-partner collaborative project – that includes the World Health Organisation - led by Dr Lissauer, has set out to better understand the type of interventions that will enable the prevention and management of maternal sepsis in resource-poor settings.   The team have carried out work in Malawi and shown it is feasible to introduce a range of interventions to maternal sepsis care in a treatment bundle entitled “FAST-M”. ‘FAST-M’ comprises the following treatment components: fluids; antibiotics; source control; transport, and monitoring (of mother and newborn). They are undertaking further work in other countries to better understand the enablers and barriers to its sustainable implementation, and how these interventions will bring about lasting change in clinical practice in LMICs to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality.

• Fast-M Trial
• Ammalife  
• Professor Arri Coomarasamy staff profile
• Dr David Lissauer staff profile 

Effective integration of care between community (primary) and hospital care (secondary) health services is essential for a patient whose needs extend beyond the initial episode to the next level of health provider, for example going from a doctor, to a hospital referral.  Dr Semira Manaseki-Holland is leading a collaborative project to improve the crucial steps in more effective clinical handover of patient-specific information from one caregiver to another. This project aims to improve integration of health care systems for more cost-effective and patient-centred management, particularly in LMICs where the consequences of inadequate clinical handover result in poor patient outcome and high cost to the health system. 

• Dr Semira Manaseki-Holland staff profile 

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a type of cancer that occurs at the back of the nose, and is unusually common in some parts of the world, including countries like Malaysia.  Professor Paul Murray and Dr Graham Taylor are leading a collaborative project with Malaysia, studying patients with NPC that have the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), in their tumour cells. They have developed a vaccine that can recognise EBV with the aim of boosting the patients' own immune response to the tumour and are now working to modify how the vaccine is delivered, with a view to combining it with other drugs to improve its therapeutic effects. 

• Professor Paul Murray staff profile 
• Dr Graham Taylor staff profile

Professor Peymane Adab leads a national and international portfolio of work on the prevention and management of childhood obesity, including the CHIRPY DRAGON (CHInese pRimary school children PhYsical activity and DietaRy behAviour chanGe InterventiON) study in China which is co-led by Dr Bai Li. Over 61,000 children at 43 primary schools in Guangdong province will be involved in the project that may eventually be rolled out across China. As well as engaging with grandparents the programme, it also involves improving the nutritional quality and taste of school meals. Facilitators will further encourage parents to engage in more physical activity with children at home and better implement the national requirement for one hour of exercise per day at school.

• University of Birmingham fighting childhood obesity in China
• Professor Peymane Adab staff profile